Stanford sophomore Kristyn Williams ran the fastest collegiate 400 meter time in the country this year, and teammate Brianna Bain had the No. 2 javelin throw, at the Stanford Invitational on Friday at Cobb Track and Angell Field.

Williams broke into the lead and fought off fatigue to hold off two other runners to earn the victory in 52.70, the No. 3 time in school history.

The time was a collegiate best for Williams in her season outdoor debut and close to her personal best of 52.59.

Bain opened her season by winning the invitational javelin with a throw of 180-5, a margin of nearly 19 feet over second place.

The throw was the second-longest ever for the two-time defending Pac-12 champion and two-time first-team All-America. Only her school record 183-10 from last year's Big Meet is longer in Stanford annals.

Bruins' fourth-ranked Robin Anderson beat second-ranked Kristie Ahn, 3-6, 6-3, 6-0, to give the Bruins a 3-2 edge. It was just the third setback of the year for Ahn, whose 24 victories lead the Cardinal.

Seconds later, Ellen Tsay pulled Stanford even at 3-3 when she contributed a 6-1, 2-6, 6-4 triumph over Catherine Harrison at the No. 5 spot.

UCLA grabbed the doubles point. The Bruins have won all 18 doubles points this season.

Stanford moved in front 2-1 following straight-set victories from Carol Zhao (6-3, 6-0 at the No. 3 spot) and Caroline Doyle (6-2, 6-3 at the No. 6 position).

Both rookies are also Stanford's hottest players as of late, with Zhao having won 13 in a row while Doyle is riding an 11-match winning streak.

Men's volleyball

Behind its senior class, the fourth-ranked Stanford men's volleyball team swept Cal Baptist, 25-13, 25-14, 25-15, Friday, at Maples Pavilion in Stanford, Calif. The Cardinal, which is on a nine match winning streak, improves to 18-7 overall and 15-7 in the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation, while the Lancers drop to 4-21 and 2-19 in conference.

The win clinched a playoff berth for the Cardinal in the MPSF Tournament. Stanford, which is tied for third, could finish as high as second in the conference. It marks the seventh straight season Stanford has qualified for the postseason.

"I think we are one of the hottest teams in the country right now. We just notched our ninth straight win," said senior outside hitter Steven Irvin. "Confidence has been a huge part of that. Looking back to the beginning of the year when we had some rough patches, where we felt we could have or should have had some wins, it is nice that we have put together this run so those 'should haves' don't matter.

"At this point we control our own destiny to hold third place [in the MPSF, and could possibly finish second. The difference between second and third really isn't a big deal. Our confidence is through the roof right now."

Stanford left no doubt on the court Friday night. Playing with confidence and extra energy for its seniors, the Cardinal hit .383 as a team while holding Cal Baptist to the second-lowest hitting percentage by an opponent this season (.090). Stanford racked up 10 service aces and seven team blocks.

"I still don't really know how to put words on what tonight has meant," said Irvin. "I think I did get a little more caught up on it then I thought I would. I thought it was just going to be another night, but it is emotional. We are one of the closest classes ever. It was nice when we were sophomores to have that senior class to look up to in Brad [Lawson, Erik [Shoji and Evan [Barry."

Senior outside hitter Brian Cook tallied eight kills and five digs to lead the team, while Irvin finished with four kills on a .444 attack percentage and five digs. Senior opposite Eric Mochalski posted four kills and a team-best eight digs and three aces. Senior libero Scott Sakaida made his first start of the season and tallied three digs.

Softball

No. 24/24 Stanford is making a habit of playing thrilling high-scoring Pac-12 series-opening games, and Friday night's showdown at No. 10/10 Arizona was no different.

Six Cardinal players combined for 11 hits and Stanford (24-12, 1-6 Pac-12) held the lead through the middle innings, but Arizona (30-8, 5-5 Pac-12) capitalized on two grand slams to earn the victory, 18-12.

Stanford was strong offensively, paced by Kylie Sorenson who went 3-for-5 with a team-best four RBI. Leah White, Erin Ashby and Hanna Winter recorded two hits apiece. Kayla Bonstrom was second on the team with three RBI.

The Cardinal had additional opportunities throughout the game to tack on more runs but could not find the hit it needed to break through, leaving 10 runners on base.

Madi Schreyer (17-6) got the start in the circle for Stanford and went 5.2 innings with five strikeouts, allowing 14 hits and five walks.

Sand volleyball

The Stanford sand volleyball team picked up its first win of the season with a 4-1 decision against California, Friday, at the ACSR Sand Courts in Stanford, Calif. The Cardinal is now 1-6 on the season, while the Golden Bears drop to 1-3.

Stanford jumped out to a 2-0 lead over Cal after the first two pairs competed. Playing in the No. 1 spot for the Cardinal, sophomore Brittany Howard and senior Carly Wopat defeated Cal seniors Joan Caloiaro and Adrienne Gehan, 22-20, 21-19. Howard and Wopat rallied from behind in both sets to defeat the Bears.

Oregon State ace Ben Wetzler limited Stanford to four hits in nine innings, as the Cardinal fell 4-1 at Goss Stadium Friday evening.

Brett Hanewich (1-2) took the loss after going 5.2 innings and allowing four runs on five hits after a shaky start. The freshman allowed a run in each of the first two innings, but settled down to retire 10 straight through the middle innings.

Stanford (10-12, 3-4 Pac-12) and Oregon State (23-6, 7-3 Pac-12) traded lengthy first chances at the plate, as the first inning took 25 minutes. Both teams loaded the bases, but Oregon State scored the only run on a bases-loaded walk.

Oregon State outfielder Michael Conforto ended Hanewich's run with a solo homer and the Beaver tacked on another run in the sixth before Stanford's bullpen took over.

Women's golf

Stanford will have some work to do if it intends to get back into contention at the 54-hole PING/Arizona State Invitational.

The Cardinal finished the first day of the event, being held at the Karsten Golf Course in Tempe, in 10th place.

The Cardinal received a 4-over Friday from Mariko Tumangan (76), 5-over from Mariah Stackhouse (77) and 14-over from Quirine Eijkenboom (86) at the par-72 course.

Stanford's 7-over 295 puts it 11 shots behind clubhouse leader Washington. Host Arizona State (-1) is second with South Carolina and Arizona tied for third at even-par.

Starting her round on the par-5 10th, Kim opened with a birdie and stayed at 1-under until a double bogey on 18. She birdied four of the next six while adding bogeys on the par-4 fourth and par-5 sixth.

Danielson was 1-over through her first nine and birdied holes two, four and five to move to 2-under. A bogey on the par-3 seventh left her at 1-under.

Women's lacrosse

Lucy Dikeou scored three goals, but No. 8 Stanford lost to Denver, 13-12, in a matchup Friday between the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation's two perennial women's lacrosse powers.

Stanford (8-2 overall, 2-1 MPSF) took a 6-0 lead with 16:49 left in the first half, but Denver (10-1, 4-0) countered with five goals to close the half.

The Pioneers took their first lead on an unassisted goal by Rachael Dillon with 10:18 left in the game.

After Stanford's Kyle Fraser tied it up, Meredith Harris scored the winner with 6:41 left, on her fifth goal of the game.

In addition to her team-leading goals, Dikeou had five draw controls, two ground balls, and caused a turnover.

Teammate Hannah Farr scored twice and had three draw controls. Fraser and Rachel Ozer also scored two apiece for the Cardinal.

A year ago, Denver won the MPSF regular-season title, but Stanford captured the conference tournament. Both advanced to the second round of the NCAA tournament.

Stanford returns to action on Sunday when the Cardinal plays host to Colorado at 1 p.m. at Laird Q. Cagan Stadium.

It will be Senior Day, and Stanford's four graduating seniors  Anna Kim, Megan Lerner, Lyndsey Munoz, and Nina Swanson  will be honored before the game.

Men's tennis

No. 52 Stanford saw its longest winning streak in three years come to an end, falling 7-0 to No. 2 USC on Friday afternoon.

Stanford (9-3, 2-1 Pac-12) entered the match having won six in a row, its longest winning streak since a 13-match stretch that spanned from March-May back in 2011.

USC (21-2, 3-0 Pac-12) pulled out a hard-fought doubles point after Stanford built some early leads and remained competitive at all three spots.

The Trojans' momentum then carried into singles with six straight-set victories.

John Morrissey gave Yannick Hanfmann a battle at the No. 1 spot, falling 7-6 (4), 6-2.

If you are a paid subscriber, check to make sure you have
logged in.
Otherwise our system cannot recognize you as having full free access to our site.

If you are a paid print subscriber and haven't yet set up an online account,
click here
to get your online account activated.

—
Stanford Athletics

Comments

There are no comments yet. Please share yours below.

Post a comment

Posting an item on Town Square is simple and requires no registration. Just complete this form and hit "submit" and your topic will appear online.
Please be respectful and truthful in your postings so Town Square will continue to be a thoughtful gathering place for sharing community information
and opinion. All postings are subject to our TERMS OF USE, and may be deleted if deemed inappropriate by our staff.

We prefer that you use your real name, but you may use any "member" name you wish.

Palo Alto Weekly Holiday Fund
For the last 23 years, the Palo Alto Weekly Holiday Fund has given away more than $4 million to local nonprofits serving children and families. When you make a donation, every dollar is automatically doubled, and 100% of the funds go directly to local programs. Itâ€™s a great way to ensure your charitable donations are working at home.